Meghan was amazed at how a simple shift in attitude could transform her entire day. Just an hour earlier, before the clock had even struck eight, she was convinced it was going to be one of those difficult days where nothing went right and everything seemed to fall apart.
Her troubles had begun with a phone call from her sibling. What started as a small disagreement quickly grew into raised voices and hurt feelings. By the time she hung up, her chest felt heavy, her mind clouded with replayed words. She stepped outside carrying that weight, moving through the morning like a machine, sadness nesting inside her.
Then, out of nowhere, it happened.
A stranger walking past her stopped, flashed a wide smile, and called out, “Good morning!” Before she could respond, he added, “You look lovely today—don’t forget to smile. Have a beautiful day!”
It was so unexpected that Meghan froze. A warmth spread across her face as she managed a smile and whispered, “Thank you.” To her surprise, her eyes brimmed with tears—not from sadness, but from the gentleness of the kind words.
As she continued on, Meghan began noticing more small gestures around her—someone holding the door for a stranger, two people exchanging smiles as they passed, a child offering half a cookie to her sibling. They had been there all along, but her earlier gloom had blinded her to them.
Her morning worries, the argument, the sting of words unspoken, suddenly seemed so small compared to the many beautiful hues sprinkled across her day.
A few steps later, she saw an older woman juggling grocery bags at the crosswalk. Meghan hurried over, offering to carry one of them. The woman’s grateful smile was all the proof she needed. The idea that kindness never stops with one person, but circles back brighter and stronger, filled her with warmth.
By the time Meghan reached her work, the argument still lingered in memory, but her heart no longer felt so heavy. She resolved to call her sister that evening—not to revisit the argument, but simply to talk to her. The thought left her with a faint glow of happiness.
Nothing like kindness to soften the heavy moments and open space for hope.
This piece is written in response to the two hundredth and sixty eighth edition of Fiction Monday inspired by the word prompt – IDEA hosted by yours truly. Do join in if you have a tale to tell.
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Void Thoughts 
Your story is a reminder how our disturbed state of mind can be altered by receiving kindness from others and consequently passing it on to others.
This made me recall a conversation between my brother and me where I said an age old proverb – ‘Neki kar aur darya main dal’ meaning do the good and then forget about it. To which my brother disagreed. He said – Do the good and then tell others about it too. This way you will remember one more time how you felt while you extended kindness to someone and this can motivate the listener to follow you and pass on the act of kindness ahead.
How do you feel about his thought process?
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I feel our acts of kindness will certainly make us better people whether we speak about them or not. There will be a great positive impact on both who acted with kindness and who received the love. The act will enhance kindness in others in subtle way, even if we don’t mention it. It is possible that sometimes we meet thankless people and we feel used… but that’s okay. I feel… there’s no need to tell them how kind we have been. We just need to feel happy that we have been kind.
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I think your brother has made a valid point there, Anamika. Although I don’t think it will help us to do good expecting good in return as a payment of sorts—which is how praying to god or a god fearing person mostly translates to—I don’t believe in forgetting the good things we do. I think that proverb is aimed at humans getting to their ideal humane state. That’s hardly the truth. While we are mostly of golden heart, we do tend to fall in to ungolden ways of humanity too. So we need the reminder that we are capable of doing good things. We should learn to consider talking about an act of kindness that we did as a good thing than as an act of boasting. I think there lies the actual challenge. How many of us would stop from judging if we hear a person talk about an act of kindness they did?
Oh my goodness, this topic can turn into a hour long phone call. Anamika. 😀
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I too have experienced the shift in attitude doing wonders especially, when I am sad and hurt, Vinitha! And as you said, kindness that comes around goes around and fills our hearts will peace and trust that all’s well; nothing can go wrong.
Sorry, I couldn’t post my response to the prompt on time. World Idea – Manougata
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